Get To Know Our Coaches: K.D. Bang

Woo! We have reached Part 6 of our interview series, courtesy of the lovely Crash N. Carrie. This installment features the hard-hitting K.D. Bang, Co-Captain of the Empire Skate Troopers!

Photo by: Walter Romero

Photo by: Brian Kraus

Athletic background: I played softball, soccer and basketball in high school and played soccer in college.

How you came up with your derby name:I was trying to think of a name and was hanging out with my friends Cheryl and Tami, and Cheryl was rattling off different names. She was like K.d. Lang uhm K.d. Bang.
I was like ‘nah,’ but nothing better came and it kinda fits.

(Readers, here’s a little k.d. lang factoid — it has been written in various sources that lang’s first professional ambition was to be a roller derby queen!)

When did you first see roller derby and want to become involved in it? I first heard of roller derby when I lived in Austin and immediately was interested. That was almost 10 years ago. I didn’t join a league until 2008 and that was here in Albany.

The worst injury you’ve sustained and the worst injury you’ve ever given: My worst injury was a broken wrist, I now have a metal plate (thanks Toronto). Worst injury given? I don’t know.

You’re a self-employed photographer. Would you say there are any qualities or skills you’ve gained as a photographer that help you on the track? Is there anything you’ve learned on the track that has helped you in your professional life? I think that being confident is important in both and also being able to get the things done that you need to. I think derby and photography both have made me be more outgoing.

Skating style in three words: Aggressive. Disobedient. Persistent.

Are there any misconceptions about the sport of roller derby or the derby players themselves that you would like to address? When I tell folks I play roller derby, they start showing elbows and ask if its real. It is totally real, and while elbows do happen, they are not suppose to.

Roller derby has been popular and not popular in various incarnations over the years. If you had to take a guess, where do you see the derby 10 years from now? Sadly I see roller derby with more corporate sponsors, owners, managers and rules. Just becoming big business. Lets hope some of the attitudes, fishnets and fun remain!

2 Responses

best fan memory: KD Bang pushing that skater until she hit the water cooler table and it tipped over dumping ice and cold water all over the floor and that skater….was that toronto or boston? i think it was toronto lol.